Teenage Use of Marijuana didn't Increase in 2014

The stats are in! Fear not overprotective parents, teenage use of marijuana didn’t increase, despite legalisation!

Good news! Backing up the notion that legalised cannabis doesn’t increase teen use, a new survey has been published findings stating that teenage use of cannabis did not increase during 2014 (in the US) – despite the dramatic shift in marijuana law. In fact, when all age groups were combined, nationwide wide use actually decreased.

The survey in question was the Monitoring the Future survey, a survey that has been conducted every year for the past 40 years, focusing on the marijuana use of three age groups, being eight graders, tenth graders and twelfth graders. Within these three age groups, lifetime use, yearly use, monthly use, and daily use is measured.

The survey found that middle and high-school use was as lowest it has been in six years, with 30 percent of teenagers questioned admitted to trying marijuana at some point in their lives, and that 14 percent admitted to using within the last month.

The news has come as a mind easer to many worried parents and medical professionals. Dr Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said “We have not seen increases in the use, which is something we were afraid would happen,” in a conference about the survey’s findings.

These findings are backed up by a recent Colorado survey, (where weed has recently been legalised), which also shows a slight drop in teenage marijuana use – despite the perceived lack of harm falling.

However, Volkow commented on how the survey found that teens in a state that had legalised medical marijuana were one-and-a-half times more likely to consume edible cannabis than teens in states that had not legalised medical marijuana – which has them worried.

It is still relatively early days in terms of monitoring the effects legalisation has, and time will be the true test. You can check out the findings of the survey for yourself here.